QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Corwin, L. M. Articles by Shloss, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Corwin, L. M. Articles by Shloss, J.

Influence of Vitamin E on the Mitogenic Response of Murine Lymphoid Cells¹

Department of Microbiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118

The effect of vitamin E on mitogenesis by polyclonal activators was studied and the vitamin was found to be stimulatory but selective in its action. Vitamin E itself is a mitogen for murine spleen cells. At suboptimal vitamin concentrations, it was capable of stimulating the response to low levels of the thymus-dependent lymphocyte (T cell) mitogen, concanavalin A (conA), but not when conA was itself at optimal levels. When vitamin E was added to the diet at normal levels, it was not as effective in stimulating mitogenesis as it was at much higher levels. The effect of the vitamin on T cell mitogenesis could be modified by the degree of unsaturation of the dietary fat; it was more effective when dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were low. Under several conditions, it was shown that vitamin E can increase the phytohemagglutinin (PHA)/conA response ratio, which may suggest an effect of the vitamin on the maturation of T cells. In normal mice, vitamin E also stimulated the response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a "bursa-equivalent" lymphocyte (B cell) mitogen, but it was unable to do so when spleen cells from athymic, nude mice were used. This suggests a requirement for thymic factors in order for vitamin E to stimulate mitogenesis of B cells.

KEY WORDS: • vitamin E • mitogenesis • polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) • lymphocytes • T cells • B cells

¹ Supported by a grant from NIH, AM21618, and a grant from Hoffmann La Roche Inc.

Manuscript received 27 August 1979.